Chapter 312 – Part 2 – A New Bet

“Ah, let me add one more thing. The loser must sincerely kneel and apologize to the winner.”

Moon Yong-taek’s eyes lit up at the new proposal.

‘The loser apologizes and voluntarily leaves the team?’

In a way, it was an opportunity for him who had lost the bet.

A chance to receive an apology and drive out Choi Seong-min as he had wanted.

“Good! I accept!”

He answered quickly, worried that Choi Seong-min might change his mind.

However, Song Chi-hyeon, who was watching, knew.

That Moon Yong-taek had fallen into Choi Seong-min’s trap.

‘He deliberately provoked him to make him agree to a sparring match.’

Even without reading thoughts, he could understand Choi Seong-min’s intention.

‘He knew that if things continued like this, there would be continuous trouble. So he’s suggesting to settle who’s stronger through sparring.’

Ultimately, he had proposed this bet to gain recognition within the team.

‘Just the day before yesterday, there was a similar situation.’

In the qualification exam for the Hunter Management Department Team 2 Leader position, Choi Seong-min had defeated the team leader and gained everyone’s recognition.

‘Like then, he’s planning to defeat Moon Yong-taek in front of everyone.’

If that happened, the group leader position would naturally fall to Choi Seong-min as well.

Preventing future troubles would be a bonus.

Of course, this was all conditional on winning the sparring match.

‘Is it possible? To beat someone with 80,000 combat power?’

Choi Seong-min had beaten someone with 60,000 combat power.

Someone with 80,000 combat power might not be a problem for him as a C-rank, but…

‘The important thing is that Moon Yong-taek is also no ordinary talent.’

Since he was a subordinate personally chosen by Song Chi-hyeon, Moon Yong-taek was not an easy opponent.

‘His personality may be terrible, but his skills are solid.’

He wasn’t holding the group leader position for nothing.

‘He’s on a completely different level from the Hunter Management Department team leader who had mediocre skills and traits.’

He was definitely a tough opponent for Choi Seong-min, who had just become C-rank.

Moon Yong-taek also seemed to know he had the advantage, as he had already relaxed his expression and was grinning.

‘Kuk kuk, stupid bastard. Did he think he could beat me in a sparring match?’

Moon Yong-taek didn’t think he had fallen into a trap.

He was confident he could easily beat a rookie who had just become C-rank.

‘I have an S-rank trait.’

Although it hadn’t seen the light of day for 10 years due to the dungeon seals, that was no longer the case.

‘From now on, all that’s left is to hunt under the Great Hero and rise to success.’

He had caught the Great Hero’s eye in the first place because he showed faster growth compared to other colleagues.

No matter how skilled the newcomer in front of him was, there was no way he could beat himself with 80,000 combat power.

‘Tsk tsk, he should have just taken the sports car and ended it there, but he proposed a new bet and cornered himself.’

Could there be such a fool?

‘I’ll beat him half to death this time. Hehe.’

That’s what Moon Yong-taek thought, but Choi Seong-min’s expression was unexpectedly relaxed.

Not just his expression, but his thoughts as well.

‘He’s confident he’ll win.’

Song Chi-hyeon, who read his thoughts, wanted to applaud Choi Seong-min’s confidence.

From a third party’s perspective, it looked like a difficult sparring match.

However, Choi Seong-min’s confidence wasn’t baseless.

In 24 hours, Choi Seong-min had conquered dungeons: three D-rank and four C-rank.

As a result, he obtained 17 Agility runes and was able to raise his Agility by a total of 30 points through Rune Affinity.

Raising stats by 30 in just one day?

This was an amount that would surprise anyone, like saying he had gained 30 levels in one day.

But what was even more surprising was something else.

Choi Seong-min’s Agility was now approaching 1,000.

In the hunter industry, it’s believed that you need to be at least B-rank to exceed 1,000 in any single stat.

In other words, Choi Seong-min was currently at a level surpassing B-rank.

Of course, this was when the Pack Instinct hunter count was at maximum, but there shouldn’t be any problems.

During the sparring match, including the Great Hero and spectators, they could fill the maximum of four people.

Most importantly, what Choi Seong-min was confident about was something else.

His combat power.

Song Chi-hyeon didn’t know, but Choi Seong-min’s combat power currently exceeded 60,000.

Going from 20,000 to 60,000 combat power in just one day?

It was an impossible growth rate, but it was true.

And Choi Seong-min decided to reveal this information to Song Chi-hyeon through his thoughts, even if he hid other things.

To show that his confidence wasn’t baseless.

-Thanks to changing equipment and soloing extensively, my combat power has risen to 60,000. Probably only I know it’s 60,000.

He thoroughly controlled other information and subtly opened only thoughts about combat power.

Sure enough.

Song Chi-hyeon seemed to have read his thoughts, looking at him with a surprised expression.

‘Choi Seong-min’s combat power… is 60,000?’

Raising 40,000 combat power in one day was unprecedented even for Song Chi-hyeon.

‘Changing equipment to C-rank does dramatically increase combat power, but even so, to increase this much…’

He only felt admiration and didn’t suspect Choi Seong-min.

‘60,000 versus 80,000 is manageable. There was a reason he confidently proposed the bet.’

As soon as he confirmed it was a reasonably fair sparring match, Song Chi-hyeon stepped between the two.

“Hmm, you want to spar with team withdrawal at stake?”

“That’s correct, Great Hero-nim. Please allow it.”

Moon Yong-taek, who said this, bowed his head.

Rather than Choi Seong-min who proposed the bet, Moon Yong-taek was more eager to spar.

“Good. It’s heartbreaking to have to send one of you away from the team, but if you can’t get along well, it can’t be helped.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

“However, remember this one thing. The loser will only be expelled from the team but will still be my direct subordinate.”

He said this considering the possibility that Choi Seong-min might lose.

He couldn’t guarantee how the sparring would turn out either.

“Then prepare for sparring immediately. I’ll referee.”

Since they were already outside, there was no need to move locations.

Tssss-

The two people, each equipped with gear and holding weapons, faced off.

Moon Yong-taek sneered when he saw Choi Seong-min’s weapon.

‘A dagger? Come to think of it, he was an assassin?’

He was holding a stylish dagger with a red aura, but he was still just a weak assassin.

He couldn’t beat himself, an axe warrior with over 600 Strength.

That wasn’t all.

There was another advantage he had.

‘This bastard learned Shadow Step, right? Kuk kuk.’

There was a huge difference between fighting knowing your opponent’s skills versus not knowing them.

Therefore, revealing skills before sparring could be seen as a fatal mistake.

‘You’re dead now. I’ll show you the price of showing off in front of me.’

Not only the Great Hero but also the group members were watching the hastily arranged sparring with shining eyes, feeling interested.

Now was the opportunity to restore his damaged pride.

When both fighters finished preparing, Song Chi-hyeon stood between them.

“As you know, this is sparring. The first person to surrender loses, and you may use weapons and skills to inflict wounds. However, you must not deliberately take a life. If you break this rule and use lethal force, I will immediately intervene to stop it and consider it a defeat. Understood?”

“Understood.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.”

“Now I’ll start, so step five more paces away from each other.”

Moon Yong-taek showed a confident smile even while creating distance.

‘An assassin’s attack pattern is obvious. Right after starting, he’ll position himself behind me and use Throat Slash first.’

Shadow Step followed by Throat Slash was a combo Moon Yong-taek already knew.

That’s why it was easy to counter.

Since it was obvious he’d appear from behind.

‘The moment he disappears underground, I’ll watch the timing and hit him with Heavy Smash!’

Heavy Smash, which swings in a big circle, could handle someone appearing from behind.

‘It’s my best skill, so if it hits properly, I can win in one shot.’

Not just winning.

If his body got smashed or if it hit his head by mistake, there was a possibility of instant death…

‘If he dies, well, it can’t be helped. I can’t cancel a skill midway, so it can’t be considered intentional, right? Kuk kuk.’

Since it was fine to kill as long as it wasn’t intentional, there was nothing to worry about.

However, he never dreamed that Song Chi-hyeon was reading such thoughts.

‘That bastard is thinking such things even though I said he shouldn’t kill…’

Song Chi-hyeon, who had been glaring at Moon Yong-taek, looked at Choi Seong-min with worried eyes.

‘Something might really happen to Choi Seong-min.’

Song Chi-hyeon decided to watch Moon Yong-taek’s actions carefully and began counting.

“Then prepare and 3… 2… 1. Sparring start!”

At the start, Moon Yong-taek’s eyes widened.

Choi Seong-min’s body had sunk into the ground.

‘As expected, he used Shadow Step!’

He had been watching Choi Seong-min without taking his eyes off him, knowing this would happen.

If he used Shadow Step, it was obvious where he’d appear.

‘Now! Heavy Smash!’

Moon Yong-taek spun around and swung his axe widely.

Since he used it at the timing when he’d appear from behind, it had to hit.

‘Huh?’

But contrary to expectations, there was no feeling of the axe catching anything.

Realizing he had only cut through empty air, Moon Yong-taek looked around.

‘Wh-where did this bastard go? I clearly saw him use Shadow Step?’

Since it was a skill that appeared behind the target, he should have naturally appeared behind him.

‘But where is he!’

While Moon Yong-taek was panicking.

Thunk-

“Ahhh!”

He felt pain from behind along with the sensation of flesh being pierced.

He had been hit by a dagger thrown by Choi Seong-min.

“Kugh! You cowardly bastard! You were hiding behind the spectators!”

It turned out Choi Seong-min had used Shadow Step not on him but on a spectator.

It was a fake used after predicting Moon Yong-taek’s strategy.

‘Damn, I never thought he’d use it on a spectator.’

Choi Seong-min rushed toward Moon Yong-taek, who had been completely fooled.

Dash-

Since he used the Sprint skill, the distance closed quickly.

“This bastard!”

Moon Yong-taek gritted his teeth and swung his axe, but due to the pain, his movements were inevitably slower than usual.

‘Damn! To allow the first strike!’

The first strike is important in fighting.

It’s no exaggeration to say the outcome is decided from the start.

‘I can’t put proper strength into it.’

As if showing that no matter how high your Strength, it’s useless if you can’t hit.

All of Moon Yong-taek’s attacks only cut through empty air without even grazing his clothes.

In contrast, Choi Seong-min was.

Swish- Swish-!

Inflicting small wounds and gradually wearing down Moon Yong-taek’s stamina.

‘If only I had Heavy Smash, I could easily handle this guy!’

But unfortunately, he had wasted his skill early on.

“Fuuuuck!”

Moon Yong-taek, who was extremely angry, endured the pain and swung his axe widely.

Whoosh-!

The sound was fierce, but he cut through empty air again.

This created a huge opening.

Swish-

“It’s over. Please give up now.”

When he felt the cold sensation of the dagger at his throat, Moon Yong-taek stopped moving.

The outcome was decided.

“Please surrender.”

“Kugh…”

He didn’t want to admit it, but he had lost.

With a blade at his throat, he couldn’t win.

Just then, a message appeared in Moon Yong-taek’s vision.

[Heavy Smash cooldown has reset.]

‘Surrender my ass!’

For Moon Yong-taek, who couldn’t give up like this, now was his chance.

“Don’t move. You’ll get hurt…”

‘Heavy Smash!’

When he executed the skill, his body rotated.

Choi Seong-min pulled his body back from the fierce axe blade, but.

Slash-

Due to the sudden body rotation, he accidentally cut the carotid artery.

“Uh, uhhhhh…”

Moon Yong-taek, who had been scattering blood while rotating, collapsed as he was.

[You have killed Hunter Moon Yong-taek.]

Choi Seong-min had unexpectedly obtained Moon Yong-taek’s trait.